OTTAWA — The Prime Minister's Office on Monday slammed an NDP attack on Conservative government policies and their impact in Quebec.

The NDP began a campaign over the weekend that suggests Conservatives have abandoned Quebec and unveiled policies that hurt Quebecers.

The attack, which is designed to mock a 2011 Conservative promise to give "power" to Quebec, came just days after the NDP lost MP Claude Patry to the Bloc Quebecois.

"This is clearly an attempt to create a smoke screen after the defection of one of their MPs to the Bloc Quebecois," said Carl Vallee, a spokesman for Prime Minister Stephen Harper. "Our Conservative government will continue to focus on the real priority for Quebecers and Canadians, which is jobs and growth. "

The NDP said the anti-Conservative campaign is designed to sound the alarm about failed promises from the Tories.

The Opposition also launched a website that says the feds have gutted employment insurance and abandoned forestry.

"The measures they are bringing in, especially when it comes to employment insurance ... are hurting regions," said the NDP's principal secretary, Karl Belanger. "They are doing the opposite of what they said they would do, which is to help the regions develop."

The NDP's latest attack does not address the Bloc Quebecois, which now has five seats in House of Commons following Patry's defection.

"The Bloc is not the government. We are focused on the government," Belanger said.

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